Writing

Books

HUMILITY, PRIDE, AND CHRISTIAN VIRTUE THEORY (2019) Oxford University Press. This book describes what I call “radical Christian humility” by trying to make sense of the disconcerting things the Desert Ammas and Abbas (Christianity’s first monks) said about humility. In the preface to the book I explain that my fascination with humility probably comes from my saturation in the tradition of John Wesley, who prayed, “For what is the most perfect creature in heaven or earth in Thy presence, but a void capable of being filled with Thee and by Thee.” One of my mentors, Stanley Hauerwas, said after reading the book he thought I was probably right but it scared the hell out of him. I had a similar feeling while writing the book.


ADDICTION AND VIRTUE: BEYOND THE MODELS OF DISEASE AND CHOICE (2011) InterVarsity Academic. The main claims of this book, which were minority reports at the time but (thanks to the writings of Bruce Alexander and Johann Hari among others) have become more mainstream today. The book’s central thesis is that the category of “disease” obscures more than it illuminates when we are trying to understand addiction. I would have never guessed such an academic book would have been read by so many non-academics. A prisoner and addict in Mexico wrote to tell me reading my book was the first time he felt fully understood in his life. A farmwife from Ohio wrote to tell me that my book filled her with compassion and understanding for her heroin-addicted son. I still travel around speaking about the main ideas of this book, which continue to help folks, especially Christian, see addicted persons as what I call “unwitting modern prophets.”

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